New $19 million hotel for Sydney Olympic Park

Sydney’s fastest growing commercial and events venue – Sydney Olympic Park – will get its fourth hotel, following the announcement that Tourism Asset Holdings Limited (TAHL) will develop a new Formule 1 hotel on the site.

The 156 room two-star Formule 1 Sydney Olympic Park will be operated by Accor, Australia’s largest hotel group and is scheduled to open in December 2007.

The new-look, new-style $19 million Formule 1 will be located on the corner of Edwin Flack Avenue and Dawn Fraser Avenue, and the design of the hotel will complement other developments on the site.

The construction of the Formule 1 will bring the total number of hotels located within the Park to four and the total number of hotel rooms to 687.

NSW Minister for Sport and Recreation and Tourism Sandra Nori welcomed the deal between the Sydney Olympic Park Authority and Tourism Asset Holdings Limited.

“The new hotel reinforces the level of investment currently taking place at Sydney Olympic Park, which in time will see it become a vibrant, thriving economic centre,” Minister Nori said.

This is the second announcement in eight months regarding the development of new hotels at Sydney Olympic Park said Ms Nori.

“Last October the Authority welcomed a deal with Accor, which will also see the development of a five-star Sofitel hotel at the precinct,” she said.

“As businesses and attractions in the Park grow, it’s important to continue providing high-quality accommodation that caters for all visitors to the precinct.”

With four hotels of various ratings now located within the Park, Chief Executive Officer for Sydney Olympic Park Authority, Brian Newman says this new hotel will predominantly cater for tourists and visitors to the precinct.

Mr Newman added that the 2-star hotel will also cater to a broad range of recreational and business users, and reinforces the Park position as an increasingly popular location for investment and development.

“The Park is now home to over 60 businesses including Orlando Wyndham, Dairy Farmers, QBE, BP Solar and Eveready. The recent announcement that the Commonwealth Bank of Australia will relocate 1400 staff to Sydney Olympic Park in early 2007 has added impetus to our plans and provided further justification for establishing an additional hotel in the precinct,” Mr Newman said.

The Formule 1 Sydney Olympic Park will be the seventh Formule 1 in the Sydney area and joins a network of 18 F1s in Australia.

Accor Asia Pacific Chairman, Mr David Baffsky, said that Accor’s pioneering hotel developments at Sydney Olympic Park had played a significant role in building western Sydney’s business and tourism infrastructure.

“While the original Novotel and Ibis complex were built in time for the 2000 Olympic Games, we always saw them as major business and conference hotels that would play a dynamic role in the growth of western Sydney,” he said.

“The fact that we will have four hotels in the same precinct covering the full spectrum of the market is unique in Australia and demonstrates the vibrancy and strength of the Olympic Park area.”

Accor has acquired a 50-year leasehold interest from the Sydney Olympic Park Authority.

[Source = etravelblackboard.com]